


Equivalent Exchange

by julie_chii



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Kinda, M/M, soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 21:27:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9203837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julie_chii/pseuds/julie_chii
Summary: In this certain universe, the population is gifted an ability. Although the ability differs from one individual to another, they have one similarity. In exchange of activating their gift, they need to pay the equivalent.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Haikyuu © Furudate Haruichi
> 
> As always, beware of typos and grammar errors. Otherwise, enjoy!

Kenma met him when he was five years-old—his soulmate, or his trigger to be exact. This person, a boy a year older than him, introduced himself as Kuroo Tetsurou. In exchange of his ability, a keen nose, he had blind right-eye. The ability allowed Kuroo to identify someone based on their scent, and he confessed that the reason he approached Kenma in the first place was caused the younger’s scent.

“It’s perfect!” Kuroo said.

“How did you know?” Kenma asked skeptically—far more critical than his young age should be. Or maybe it was just his natural curiosity as five years old. “You haven’t met many people. How do you know that my scent is perfect?”

Kuroo gave a lopsided smile, unsuited for his young face. “Hm, I don’t know yet. But I already love it. I will tell you if I found a better smell than yours.”

Thus said, five more years passed with nothing rivaled Kenma’s scent for Kuroo. Five years passed and Kenma was the best for Kuroo. Kuroo had said to Kenma somewhere along that five years that a scent was an embodiment of a person, it told Kuroo how they were in their everyday life from what they had done, where they had been, and whom they were with. A scent never lied to Kuroo in all of his eleven years life, and he believed wholeheartedly it would never in the future. Therefore it did not lie about Kenma’s perfection for him.

“What if I change somewhere in the future?”

“You are still the best!”

In the five years, Kuroo kept smothering Kenma with affection and dedication.

Gradually, Kenma loathed it.

Thus at the age of ten, when he was fed up with Kuroo’s affection, he briefly thought to be away from Kuroo. Then in the blink of eye, Kenma was teleported somewhere quite far enough from his and Kuroo’s neighborhood—an unknown territory. Kenma could only blink at confusion. Oh, he knew that his ability had manifested—to teleport it seemed—but he still didn’t know what the trigger was.

Kuroo found him an hour later. Kenma was half-grateful someone picked him up and half-annoyed finding his precious private time ended too soon. Worse, after that incident, Kuroo became clingier and more possessive.

Not even a month after the first teleportation incident, Kenma had the same predicament—once again stranded on an unknown neighborhood.

He had been arguing with Kuroo, or to be exact he was fuming at Kuroo. It had been rare for the black-haired ‘best-friend’ to let Kenma having private space, but after the first teleportation incident, Kuroo started to limit Kenma’s interaction with other people. Even though Kenma was loner, even considered anti-social, he also had his share of friends, and he needed time with them!

“Don’t you have your own friend? Stop following me!” snapped Kenma.

“But you are my priority,” said the stubborn Kuroo.

Kenma fumed then ran away. Kuroo’s shout of his name followed. Kenma was sure Kuroo would immediately catch up to him—and drag him home while he complained and whined and being difficult in a manner unlike yowling cat—and Kenma didn’t want that, he didn’t want to be with Kuroo, he wanted to be away from Kuroo _right now_.

Before Kenma knew it, he was being whisked away by his ability to the unknown territory.

And here he was; relieved, confused, free, and lost. Until a familiar voice called him, and thank god it was not Kuroo’s.

“Hinata,” he called back in timid voice.

“What are you doing here, Kenma?”

“I don’t know,” Kenma shook his head, brows furrowed. “My ability was acting up. Before I know I was teleported here.”

Hinata blinked and the concerned gaze changed into an awe and admiration. The orange-haired junior then gushed about how awesome to have an ability to transport. Hinata himself had an ability to jump, and if Kenma said jump it meant a really high jump, in exchange of his short stature. Right now Hinata could only jump as high as second floor building—and this ability might evolve further in the future.

“How about I accompany you to the school building so you can find your way to home?” Hinata offered.

Kenma accepted. It was the first since a long time that he was walking home with someone else aside from Kuroo, and Kenma enjoyed it immensely. They talked about volley, games, homework, gossip about teacher, and everything and anything they could think of.

“Oh, we are arrived,” told Hinata.

Kenma pushed down the disappointment in his chest. It felt too soon, and Kenma didn’t want it to end yet. Usually, every time he walked home with Kuroo, it felt too long and his home seemed too far, all the way agonizing how much time before they were home and finally be free from Kuroo Tetsurou.

“Thank you for sending me home, Hinata,” Kenma told his friend. “It was fun.”

“Yeah,” agreed Hinata happily. However, the expression suddenly changed into a worried one. “I wish we can hang out together often, but I am afraid of senior Kuroo. What if he doesn’t like me?”

Kenma scowled hearing Kuroo’s name. “Come to hang out with me as often as you like. Kuroo won’t mind. Even if he minds, I won’t let him be mean to you.”

Hinata and Kenma parted ways then, with a promise to hang out as often as possible.

Kenma walked in silence to his home. A little bit confused why Kuroo hadn’t appeared yet. That annoying nose of him could sniff him as far as kilometers goes. _Stalker_ , Kenma muttered, puffing his cheek. However, just as he was not far from his home, Kuroo’s figure approached him from afar, face blotched with red and tears.

“Kenma!” Kuroo tackled the younger boy, hugging him in a tight cage of his arm. “Where have you been? Are you okay? I can’t track you at all!” cried the black-haired boy.

Kenma freeze. Kuroo’s nose couldn’t find him? It meant that he had been teleported quite far from Kuroo’s radar. Just wow!

Kuroo was still crying on his shoulder and it made his clothes wet. Kenma didn’t want his clothes to be wet, and he wanted to be home already. Reluctantly, and with a sigh, Kenma lifted his arms and put it on Kuroo’s shoulder.

“Don’t cry, Kuroo,” whispered Kenma. “I am sorry for making you worried. Let’s go home?”

Kuroo’s cage loosened. The black-haired boy took a step back to be able to face Kenma, and for unfathomable reasons Kenma kept his touch lingered on Kuroo’s shoulder.

“Let’s,” Kuroo answered.

#             #             #

Third time was a charm.

After the second incident, Kenma found himself humoring Kuroo with skin-ships. Not only because he felt bad for making Kuroo cried, also because unexpectedly Kuroo was okay with Hinata hanging out with Kenma. In the past, Kuroo would glare at whoever tried to take Kenma’s attention from him. Well, maybe Kuroo was learning something from the second teleportation accident.

However, soon the skin-ship was also making Kenma uncomfortable. Kuroo would stop if Kenma said no, but it still aggravated Kenma to some level. Every time Kuroo pecked his cheek, Kenma got this urge to rub it clean. Every time Kuroo held his hand, Kenma wished he could wash it immediately. By any means, skin-ship was not strange thing between them, while it always made Kenma feel weird, only after the second teleportation it started to feel repulsive.

One fine day, Kenma teleported to the school. Usually he would go to school with Kuroo, but today he really did not want to see the childhood friend so badly. Therefore instead of waiting for Kuroo to pick him up, Kenma decided to go to school using teleportation. As he appeared on school gate though, the acute rejection toward Kuroo was gone. Kenma thought if Kuroo came out and touch his hand or peck his cheek now, it would be okay--at least he would be indifferent, and if his mood was good he might be willing to hold Kuroo’s hand back.

Kenma might be only ten years old, but he was smart. At that moment he instantly figured everything out. He needed to be in contact with Kuroo to the point of irritation or repulsion to be able to use his power, because the power was meant to get away from Kuroo, fueled by his unwillingness to be with Kuroo. After a teleportation, the need to be close to Kuroo would slam in an urge to refill the parameter. Logically, the more intimate with Kuroo he was, the faster his teleportation meter be filled.

Now Kenma kinda understood Kuroo’s insistent on sticking with him. Because the universe had decided so— _fate_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3


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